Tag: The Science of Introverts

Man oh man, I love reading. I also love it when I have good books to read and I’ve fortunately read several good ones over the past few months. Below is the list of my recent reads starting with my favorite novel.

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

I absolutely loved Hannah’s The Nightingale so I selected her latest novel, The Great Alone as my Book of the Month club choice in February. It did not disappoint. Hannah has been the only novelist who has been able to make me cry over two separate books. I was literally sobbing on my couch while reading it. Hannah did a wonderful job describing the Alaskan landscape and I’m a sucker for young romance. Overall I really liked the plot.

Educated by Tara Westover

I read about Educated as a recommended Memoir in my February issue of Vogue so I figured I’d give it a shot since I’m trying to read more non-fiction, and I’m glad I did. I was very fascinated with Westover’s upbringing in a Mormon family. There were actually quite a few parallels from The Great Alone in Westovers life story in the sense that both Leni in The Great Alone and Tara grew up an isolated, dysfunctional family and were both forced to be tough women in order to make it out okay.

The Science of Introverts by Peter Hollins

I was browsing through the free Kindle books for Amazon Prime members and this was an option so I figured I’d give it a go since I’m trying to read more non-fiction novels. It was a quick read and enlightening….I think I may actually be a “social introvert” which surprised me since I’ve always thought of myself as an extrovert. I took several notes while reading the book, so below are some of my highlights:

“Ambiverts achieve greater sales productivity than extroverts or introverts do. Because they naturally engage in a flexible pattern of talking and listening, ambiverts are likely to express sufficient assertiveness and enthusiasm to persuade and close a sale but are more inclined to listen to customers’ interests and less vulnerable to appearing too excited or overconfident.”

A leader requires the ability to adapt. Leaders do not have the luxury of retreating into their introverted or extroverted comfort zones. Instead, they must be “ambiverts” and have a flexible attitude depending upon the situation.

4 types of introverts:– Social Introvert – The Social Introvert is social, but in an introverted way. They enjoy people, but in limited quantities and ways.– The Thinking Introvert is the type of person who is truly inward-focused. They are introspective, analytical, and thoughtful internally without having to interact with others.– Anxious introvert– The Restrained Introvert doesn’t necessarily avoid social situations; they just tend to live at a slower pace.

Ambiverts occupy the vast space in the middle of the spectrum, and it’s something we all are, in actuality.

In conclusion, Grant said, “Ambiverts achieve greater sales productivity than extroverts or introverts do. Because they naturally engage in a flexible pattern of talking and listening, ambiverts are likely to express sufficient assertiveness and enthusiasm to persuade and close a sale but are more inclined to listen to customers’ interests and less vulnerable to appearing too excited or overconfident.”

Which personality type makes the better leader? Turns out, it depends on who they are leading and what they are trying to accomplish.

Artemis by Andy Weir

I read Artemis not long after reading Ready Player One since I was in the sci-fi mood. I liked the book, it was smart but goofy and a quick, easy read. I have already cast rapper M.I.A. as the story’s protagonist, Jazz.

Red Clocks by Leni Zumas

Reading this book was also timely with all of the women’s rights activism going on to protect women’s reproductive rights. It was one of my Book of the Month Club selections. The first few chapters I was like WTF is this but by a quarter of the way in I was hooked and I liked how all of the various characters lives were intertwined.

The Last Equation of Isaac Severy by Nova Jacobs

This was a Book of the Month club selection in March and one of the guest celebrity book picks. It was a quick and entertaining read, I liked it.

Drop the Ball by Tiffany Dufu

I am kind of familiar with Tiffany Dufu through Levo so when this book was included in the gift tote I received at an event hosted by AppNexus I told myself I was going to read it. It did sit on my bookshelf for several weeks while I finished some other books, but I did eventually read it. Overall I enjoyed it.

The key takeaways for me is that communication is key in a relationship and don’t micromanage; everyone has their own style of getting things done and when you need to delegate tasks you can’t overthink it. Parenting is hard and it’s okay not to be perfect, you can’t always hold all of the pieces together yourself.

Nobody is Ever Missing by Catherine Lacy

I enjoyed all of the books listed above with the exception of this one. I picked this one up at The Strand because it was one of the employee picks. It kind of reminded me ofThe Idiotby Elif Batuman because neither novel has a point or feeling of closure or an ending. It was definitely a weird book and I wanted to shake the main character who was just lost in life and didn’t really make much sense.